Botanical classification/cultivar designation: Hypericum androsaemum cultivar Esmcoral.
The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Hypericum plant, botanically known as Hypericum androsaemum, commercially used as cut stems with fruits, and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Esmcoralxe2x80x99.
The new Hypericum is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador. The objective of the breeding program was to develop cut Hypericum varieties with attractive fruit coloration.
The new cultivar originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in October, 1999 of a proprietary selection of Hypericum androsaemum identified as Code 02, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary selection of Hypericum androsaemum identified as Code 04, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The cultivar Esmcoral was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador.
Asexual reproduction of the new Hypericum by terminal cuttings taken at El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador since August, 2000, has shown that the unique features of this new Hypericum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Esmcoralxe2x80x99. These characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Esmcoralxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Upright plant habit.
2. Dark green-colored leaves.
3. Dark pink-colored fruits.
4. Good postproduction longevity.
Plants of the new Hypericum differ from plants of the female parent selection identified as Code 02 in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Hypericum have fewer flowers per lateral branch than plants of the female parent selection.
2. Plants of the new Hypericum have smaller fruits than plants of the female parent selection.
3. Plants of the new Hypericum and plants of the female parent selection differ in fruit coloration.
Plants of the new Hypericum differ from plants of the male parent selection identified as Code 04 in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Hypericum are more upright than plants of the male parent selection.
2. Plants of the new Hypericum have larger fruits than plants of the male parent selection.
3. Plants of the new Hypericum and plants of the male parent selection differ in fruit coloration.
Plants of the new Hypericum differ from plants of the Hypericum cultivar Esmamber, U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 10/637,062 filed concurrently, in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Hypericum have less rounded fruits than plants of the cultivar Esmamber.
2. Plants of the new Hypericum and the cultivar Esmamber differ in fruit coloration.
Plants of the new Hypericum can be compared to plants of the Hypericum cultivar Bosapin, disclosed in U.S. Plant Pat. No. 10,993. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in El Quinche, Pichincha, Ecuador, plants of the new Hypericum differed from plants of the cultivar Bosapin in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Hypericum had narrower leaves than plants of the cultivar Bosapin.
2. Plants of the new Hypericum had smaller fruits than plants of the cultivar Bosapin.
3. Plants of the new Hypericum and the cultivar Bosapin differed in fruit coloration.